Awesome… that makes complete sense thank you. So really just needs an update to ST.
Ron: Yeah… I’d say about 2x the brightness of the old bulbs. A neat trick they can do is go really, really dim. The bulbs can go dim to a point and then off. These can go almost undetectable. Certainly dim enough for a night light for example.
I should add that the old Lightstrips are Gamut A as are the Iris/Bloom and other old specialty Hue lights. The Hue Go and Lightstrip Plus are the only Gamut C. The big advantage for the new Lightstrip is the brightness increase, but they also added color temperature support. Maybe we can get ST to add Color Temperature support to their Hue integration. It would work for all the A19, BR30 and GU10 color bulbs as well because they all support it. Much easier to get good white light directly from ST integration.
(Signed up for the Hue API to research the Dimmer Switch, and there’s a lot of info there.)
For now I’ve got round the difficult Hue integration by just scripting it all on my server which uses the Hue API… I then just call a URL from ST. Much easier to get ‘scene’ like lighting rather than them all the same 
I can’t seem to find it on amazon anymore. I had it saved in my list, but when I click on it, it takes me to the Hue Tap switch.
Yeap. I ordered on October 9 and whenever I tried to check it did take me to the tap page. All of a sudden this morning I got n email saying good news blah blah and it will get it this coming Wednesday.
Has the process of adding the new strips and bulbs changed? When I added my two bulbs a couple months back I ended up having to remove all the Hus devices from Smartthings and re-add them before they would appear. can someone update me on the crystal clear process of adding new lights to an already existing system using the old Hues hub and Smartthings?
For your Hue bulbs, you should not need to remove all of your other bulbs to get new ones connected - this was an issue for some time but it’s been fixed. You’ll want to make sure the bulbs are configured and working with the native Hue app. Then, you’ll just need to tap the rooms icon, go to the ‘SmartApps’ tab, tap on ‘Hue (connect)’, and wait for the bulbs to be discovered. They should appear in the list, and you can then check them off and hit ‘Done’ to add them.
Amazon now publishing acknowledgement that the new Phillips hue HomeKit-enabled bridge is not working with Echo. They say they’re working on it. Philips says only some customers have the problem. May be a configuration issue. The following screenshot was posted to the Phillips Facebook page.
1 light strips plus & 2 extensions
Yesterday I upgraded my old Hue bridge to the Hue bridge 2.0 with no issues and was seamless transferring 24 bulbs. A new IP was assigned to the bridge. Opened the Hue Connect app which found two bridges, selected the new one and life is all good. I didn’t have to remove anything from ST land. Just set up a DHCP reservation for the new bridge so that IP is not changed when the router is rebooted. The whole process including checking took me about 10-15 minutes top.
PS: Also deleted the old hue bridge from ST.
Have not tried the Siri control yet.
Any updates on the Hue White (not color) bulbs or Dimming Switch Kits? I’ve been on the lookout since the beginning of September, but every bundle which would include the White bulbs has remained out-of-stock in the US. Best Buy, which previously included both the bulb and dimming kit has since removed the listings.
I’ve been waiting to upgrade the remainder of my house just as soon as these bulbs are available (12 total). Any idea what the holdup is?
Philips supply chain. The initial release sold out way quicker than they expected. Their official wide release date is now November 1 in the US and November 30 in the UK.
Thanks for the background info. I did see the devices launch overseas (Amazon.de in particular) before the US. But the White bulbs never did come into stock state-side. I’ve been a bit obsessive in watching out for them. With luck, they’ll be available Nov 1 as you say.
Some people did get the white bulbs in a starter kit at Best Buy in the US, I think. I know a lot of people got the standalone dimmer switches from Amazon in the front run (I got one and I think @smart got 5 or 6!)
But, yes, wide release in November according to Philips Facebook page.
Luckily I did pick up a few standalone switches - it took 3 stock boys to find them in the Best Buy backroom, but they finally found them :-). I hope the new white bulbs are a bit smaller than the Luxes though, since they barely fit in some of my fixtures and don’t light them evenly.
They’re a different shape, rounder on the end, but I don’t think they’re any smaller.
Same situation - I’ve been waiting patiently for the Dimmer kits. As you mentioned, the link has been removed from Best Buy’s website. Both local stores near me have had tags and shelf space for them for a couple weeks now but still no stock.
Glad to hear they may start showing up soon.
As we continue to wait for the Hue White bulbs (kit or add-on), is there any updates on the US release date? Best Buy and Amazon still show as unavailable.
Sorry if this has already been answered in this thread, but I’ve just brought the old Lux and bloom lights (with bridge) as they’re now going cheep… Will the new dimmer switch work with these?
